Member

The only thing that bothers me from the new combat system is that it does that Arkham/Naught Dog thing where your character automatically positions himself to continue the combo, like it skates towards the enemy. Just let me whiff attacks, it's a natural part of combat.

Member

I am so pleased this isn't open world. After Horizon's Ubi-design, I dont trust sony's internal studios with doing open world gameplay. Also, I think in general the choice should be made on what's suits the title, rather than just forcing a genre.

Member

Kratos didnt quite display that level of nuance in the original God of War games. Is some of this characterization of him being retroactively applied?

I still think he lacks nuance in certain areas. Hes a struggling character. Pixar once sent out these rules for storytelling, and one of them talks about the hero failing over and over again. But you love him for it, because he gets back up every time he fails. That is the engagement with the character. This character doesnt change overnight. Hes not going to sit there and have very deep, meaningful, emotional conversations with his son. He struggles this whole game to figure out his place in the world and how to relate to his kid. Because its important to him to change tomorrow, because hes been blaming yesterday his whole life.

If you have the linear action of previous God of War games on one end of a spectrum, and open-world on the other, where does this new God of War fall?

I would say that action/adventure is squarely where we are suited. Were definitely not open-world, but were kind of this interesting "super-wide linear" in the sense that the world has a greater sense of scale. Were really encouraging the player to say Hey, whats that over there? Id like to go check it out. Were not forcing them. We dont force you to go find something, but when you do, you are rewarded. You are rewarded with things like Wow, theres an entire level over here! And I think that sense of discovery is so important. Linearity can drive you through this fantastic story  youre always going to be driven forward by the development and arc of the characters  but at any given point in this game, you can pull the lever on the bus and stop to look around, and then get back on the bus and keep going. Seamlessly integrating that, making it feel like its not a chore and youre rewarded for it, thats the big trick of this game. Thats the big play, to make it feel like youre not just going down a hallway. To always feel like theres a why.

I find that very interesting as well, and really fitting for the "outsider" angle, with Kratos not even speaking the common language. It may do wonders for the feeling of a journey through foreign lands.

Member

I am so pleased this isn't open world. After Horizon's Ubi-design, I dont trust sony's internal studios with doing open world gameplay. Also, I think in general the choice should be made on what's suits the title, rather than just forcing a genre.

Member

You can see it in the E3 2016 footage, like how the camera swings behind his son during the fight with the troll and suddenly the troll speaks in "english" (because Atreus can understand the language), or how the moment when you shoot the arrow at the deer and the game subtly shifts control to you aiming the bow manually. Or the seamless transitions back to gameplay

Member

After last year's showing, the new trailer surprised me at how fast the combat looked. Looks even weightier and more powerful than the Blades of Chaos while being even more versatile

You can really appreciate the animations when it's slowed down

Look at how every movement of the axe is weighty and how the hands twirl the weapon into the next attack and catch the downward momentum to swing into another blow. And then for the other attack, how Kratos is flipping the axe behind his back and catching it with his other hand.

I think that's part of what making the combat feel so heavy and forceful. By capturing the physical movement needed to pull of each strike, they can sell the weight and power of the attacks

Member

You can see it in the E3 2016 footage, like how the camera swings behind his son during the fight with the troll and suddenly the troll speaks in "english" (because Atreus can understand the language), or how the moment when you shoot the arrow at the deer. Or the seamless transitions back to gameplay

Yes but I want to see how other characters fit in scenes, I think I've heard they shot some with up to 5 actors. Every set piece and how the plot advances it's going to be pretty interesting to see in one take.

D-Member

For big, elaborate boss battles, Barlog said, players can expect the Track and Field design, referring to the classic NES game in which players quickly spammed buttons to create a feeling of physical exertion. In dramatic sequences, God of War might ask the player to spam X or twirl the control sticks to mimic the action happening on screen.

Member

I would say that action/adventure is squarely where we are suited. Were definitely not open-world, but were kind of this interesting "super-wide linear" in the sense that the world has a greater sense of scale. Were really encouraging the player to say Hey, whats that over there? Id like to go check it out. Were not forcing them. We dont force you to go find something, but when you do, you are rewarded. You are rewarded with things like Wow, theres an entire level over here! And I think that sense of discovery is so important. Linearity can drive you through this fantastic story  youre always going to be driven forward by the development and arc of the characters  but at any given point in this game, you can pull the lever on the bus and stop to look around, and then get back on the bus and keep going. Seamlessly integrating that, making it feel like its not a chore and youre rewarded for it, thats the big trick of this game. Thats the big play, to make it feel like youre not just going down a hallway. To always feel like theres a why.

Member

I'm still not convinced this camera angle being close as fuck to the character works for a hack and slash game and the combat still doesn't look like it's going to be for me. Maybe it will surprise me, but I've been skeptic since the reveal.

Watch last year's trailer for a good idea. The game shifts from gameplay to cut scene seamlessly, without the normal cut into new camera angles. It just transitions the camera into a different perspective